Day 2 : Oman Outreach – Catch-ups, Culture and Camels

By Pauline Schut

Today was an exciting day for the trainees, as we were conducting the precourse practical assessment! It was great to see that all trainees were very well organized. We were also very happy to see most trainees were still familiar with the six step approach including biometry. In our absence a lot of the trainees had improved, which we already expected based on the quality of the images they had sent us for their logbook. This was probably due to the buddy/supervisor- trainee-system that was set up by Dr Mouza and Dr Fatma at the end of the second week.

The Outreach team with trainers and Dr Mouza

However, new images were added to the assessment, which made it quite challenging. Not everyone succeeded to obtain all 13 images within the available 30 minutes. However, we did get an impression of everyone’s current level and which items we should focus on during the following days, when the future trainers will be selected.

To use their time wisely, while not being assessed, the trainees got the opportunity to practice on the medaphor simulator, with the help of trainee Dina. She has experience with this simulator and was guiding this session with her characteristic enthusiasm. Alternatively, the trainees could also join workshops provided by ISUOG’s Terri Harris aiming to improve presentation skills. Not all the trainees feel confident in presenting yet, but during these vivid sessions trainees had to make themselves understood and keep the audience hung on their every word while lecturing on ordinary items, such as a shoe.

Trainees taking in presentations

After lunch we all together watched and discussed the captivating lecture by Dr Abuhamad on maternal mortality. This informative presentation emphasizes the possibilities of ultrasound to improve pregnancy outcome, which is the most important goal of ISUOG Outreach projects. The video led to a group discussion about the availability of resources in different areas of Oman. We found out that, in contrast to most outreach countries, many women present in the first trimester, which enables correct dating of the pregnancy. By adequate training and education of both the healthcare professionals and Omani women all pregnant women should have access to this crucial scan in the future.

At night we were able to immerse ourselves in the Omani culture, as we were lucky to visit the Annual Muscat festival. Each night people from a different city perform typical dances or songs and lots of stands showed typical Omani handicrafts and foods. The icing on the cake was the lovely camel neonate we saw – which was most definitely a first for most of us.